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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. spell — magic
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a great time
  6. degree — temperature
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. spell — a short time
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. bat — the animal
  14. press — to push
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. wind — moving air
  17. press — a publisher
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. wind — moving air
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — from a university
  23. press — newspapers
  24. hide — animal skin

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com